Never Tick Off an Angel
by Paige M. Carter
Summary: Kate gets frusterated by Gibbs' actions and gives a piece of her mind. Sequel to 'Smacked by an Angel. Contains mentions of slash.
1. A Kick in the Pants

"Gibbs, if I wasn't dead and duty bound to protect you, I'd be wringing your damn neck right now!"

The sound of Kate's voice jolted Gibbs from the sanding of his beloved boat. Turning around, he found his deceased friend standing at the foot of the basement stairs, an aggravated look on her face. The first thing he noticed was that she was alone. "Where's your back-up," he asked, the last time he'd seen Kate was when she and that Uriel come to warn him about Tony after he and Ziva had been locked in that box.

Kate didn't seem fazed by his question, "Don't change the subject Gibbs, you're making my job a hell of a lot harder and it's pissing me off."

Gibbs frowned, "What did I do?"

Kate sighed, "Gibbs, I didn't make an ass of myself in front of the Angel of Death just for you to throw it away for whatever woman in a uniform that crosses your path!"

Gibbs' frown deepened, "What're you talking about?"

Kate made a sound of aggravation, "You breaking up with Tony! Gibbs, the order to get you two together came from the top and now you've fucked it up. You know how pissed that makes Them?"

Gibbs' eyebrows rose, "Them? Who's Them?"

Kate sighed, "The Board. They run the afterlife, decide who to allow in and who to keep out. What to do with souls, the whole works."

Gibbs' frown deepened, "You're saying that Heaven is run by a committee?"

Kate gave him her 'Don't push me' looks. "Anyway, they gave the order to the Head of Guardians, who is my boss, to send me down to help Uriel convince you that Tony was in danger so you'd make your move."

Gibbs scowled, "That whole thing with Tony dying in a car wreck was just a ruse?"

Kate looked horrified, "What? No! Uriel's one of the Archangels, he can't lie. Tony was going to die in that car accident unless someone interfered and The Board decided that it was going to be you and sent us down to warn you. And now you've thrown it away and They are pissed!"

Gibbs frowned, "Kate, Tony and I have been split up for over a year. Why is your Board just now getting ticked off at me?"

"Because They were trying to give you a break. After the explosion and your bout of amnesia, they figured it would take you some time to get your head together after having to relive fifteen years of your life so quickly. But instead, you dropped Tony like a sack of garbage and took up with that Hollis Mann, even after you remembered the relationship you guys'd had. So now, The Board is getting pissed and getting on my boss who's getting on me to fix this mess of yours and get you two back together," Kate replied, folding her arms over her chest.

Gibbs sighed, "It's not that easy, Kate."

Kate scowled, "Who says? Seems pretty simple to me, Gibbs. You and Tony belong together only you're either too stubborn or too stupid to admit it."

Now Gibbs was getting angry, "Excuse me? I get caught in an explosion, lose fifteen years of my memory, have to relive losing my wife and daughter and then find out that I'm sleeping with a male subordinate and you're mad at me for freaking out about it?"

Kate rolled her eyes, "No, I'm mad because after you remembered the relationship, you started treating Tony like garbage and rubbing your new relationship in his face! You really wanna know why he agreed to that unsanctioned undercover op for Director Shepard? He was trying to get over you. You hurt him so badly by pretending that your relationship never happened that he threw himself into an undercover op that nearly got him killed!"

Gibbs sighed, everything Kate had said was right. His treatment of Tony after he'd returned from Mexico had been extremely unfair. He'd basically kicked Tony out of his life with no apologies or explanations and had expected the young man to just go on like the their relationship had never happened. It wasn't fair and it had sent Tony's already frail ego into a tailspin which had made him easy prey for Jenny and her vendetta against La Grenouille.

"What about Shannon and Kelly, Kate? When Tony and I got together, I'd managed to pretty much put it behind me. I woke up from that explosion thinking that they'd just died. It just brought back all those memories."

Kate looked sympathetic, "And so you couldn't bring yourself to look at Tony because you thought you were betraying Shannon's memory."

She walked over to where Gibbs was standing and put her hand on his arm, "Gibbs, Shannon doesn't want you to be miserable the rest of you life. She knows that you still love her. You finding someone else to love isn't going to change that. Plus she likes Tony a lot better than all those ex wives of yours or Director Shepard."

Gibbs was stunned, "You know Shannon?"

Kate nodded, "Yeah, she's in the Guardian Department with me, Kelly too. Kelly's good at comforting frightened children because she looks like them."

The thought of his wife and daughter working as Angels made him smile, Shannon always had a big heart and was always trying to help people, it was perfect for her. And Kelly had always been a kind-hearted little girl so helping other children would be right up her alley.

After a moment, he looked up at Kate, "Where's Tony now?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Kate's mouth, "He's in his apartment looking for the scotch Ducky gave him for Christmas last year that he's certain he'd put in the top cabinet in his kitchen."

Something about the mischievous sparkle in Kate's eyes told Gibbs that she had a great deal to do with the scotch disappearing but refrained from commenting on it. He hesitated for a moment before patting Kate on the shoulder and running upstairs. A few minutes later, Kate heard the engine of Gibbs' car start up and of tires squealing away. A big smile formed on her face and she began jumping up and down like a cheerleader.

"Now, now, Caitlyn, don't get ahead of yourself. You don't know if Tony will even want to talk to Gibbs," Uriel said, appearing next to her.

Kate sighed, "I know, but I also know Tony, he never holds a grudge for very long." She saw how sad Uriel looked and, knowing what his mission had been, tried to cheer him up. "You wanna go over to Tony's place and watch Gibbs grovel?"

Uriel shook his head, "No, you go ahead. I think I'll pop over to Miss Sciuto's lab, she always amuses me." With that, he vanished. Kate smiled to herself before heading for Tony's. She had a mission to complete.

TBC


	2. Changes and Conversations

When Kate reappeared in Tony's, she frowned. It was absolutely silent. A quick check of her watch indicated that Gibbs had just left his house about five minutes ago, so he was still on the road, but it didn't explain the silence. She walked into the living room and stopped; Tony was laying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Kate bit her lip and checked her watch again, it was a twenty minute drive from Gibbs' place to Tony's, ten if Gibbs' driving was the way she remembered it, which meant that she had maybe five minutes before Gibbs would be banging on the door, so she decided to make use of it by doing one of her favorite things to do; Tony-Watch. She'd loved doing it while she was alive, but she'd had to be careful because if Tony caught on, he'd get nervous and a nervous Tony was not someone you wanted to mess with; but since she was dead and he wouldn't know she was there unless she was given permission to reveal herself, she could watch him to her heart's content.

Tony was still every bit the handsome rogue she'd met on Air Force One five years ago, but there were changes, there were lines on the boyish face that hadn't been there before. Stress, unhappiness, natural ageing and his continual struggle with the aftermath of having the plague had all taken their tolls on his face, but they didn't detract from his good looks, in fact they enhanced them. His eyes were still beautiful too, but the same things that had put those lines on his face had also taken their tolls on his eyes; they didn't sparkle with laughter the way they used to but they were still beautiful, just not in the same way they'd been when she'd first met him.

Kate sighed, these were the times she hated not being able to reveal herself whenever she wanted. But those were the rules, no Angel, not even the Archangels, were allowed to show themselves to mortals without The Board's permission, something about Angels interfering when they shouldn't have and making a mess of things, so she had to content herself with stroking Tony's arm, even though he couldn't feel it.

Suddenly, a pounding on the door startled the both of them and Kate sighed as she looked at her watch; yep, Gibbs was right on time. She steeled herself for the confrontation to come, Gibbs had been one thing, Tony was a totally different animal. He bottled everything up and Kate was a little afraid of what would happen if Gibbs pushed Tony too far.

She watched Tony stalk over to the door and pull it open, sure enough, there was Gibbs.

"Gibbs," Oh, this wasn't shaping up well, Tony's voice was hard, not like the soft tones he'd often used when he and Gibbs had been together and Gibbs had showed up at his apartment out of the blue.

Gibbs at least had the decency to look sheepish, "May I come in?"

Kate watched Tony's face and she could see that he was torn between wanting to tell Gibbs to go to hell, slamming the door in his face and going back to his fruitless search for the scotch or letting Gibbs in and going from there.

"I'm really not in the mood for company, Gibbs. If you want that, go see Director Shepard." Kate winced at the bitter tone in Tony's voice. Okay, maybe she'd been too confident in thinking that Tony wouldn't hold a grudge; after everything he'd been through, God knows he had every right to hold a grudge against Gibbs. But Kate prayed that Tony's innate ability to forgive just about anyone hadn't been destroyed along with his car and his relationship with Jeanne.

Gibbs shook his head, "No, that's not why I'm here. I just wanna talk."

Tony was quiet and for a minute, Kate was afraid that he was going to shut the door, but instead, Tony stepped aside to let Gibbs in without a word.

Kate breathed a sigh of relief; okay, so maybe Tony was at least going to listen to what Gibbs had to say. That is until Tony knocked Gibbs flat on his ass with one punch.

TBC


	3. Fallouts and Forgiveness

Notes: Sorry this has taken so long to post, the bunny couldn't decide where he wanted this to go.

Kate wasn't sure who was more stunned by Tony's sudden attack; herself or Gibbs. She couldn't believe that Tony had actually struck Gibbs. In the two years she'd worked for NCIS, she'd never seen Tony punch someone other than the occasional suspect while he was trying to take them down.

"What the hell, Tony?!" Gibbs growled from his position on the floor, Kate could see the beginnings of a heck of a shiner forming under his right eye, at least nothing looked broken.

"You arrogant son-of-a-bitch! Did you think that I'd just roll over for you? 'Poor Tony, got his cover blown, lost his car and his girlfriend all in one day. It shouldn't be too hard to get him to spread his legs for me as long as I talk a good line. Act like I care.'" Tony's fists were clenched, he was shaking like a leaf and Kate could see what looked like tears in Tony's green eyes.

"Jesus, Tony! Is that what you think I'm here for?" Gibbs sounded appalled and hurt, and Kate couldn't blame him, Tony of all people should know that Gibbs wasn't like that. But Kate could also see Tony's side. Gibbs had basically cut off all ties to Tony except for work since his return from Mexico, and after the day Tony'd had, she couldn't blame him for thinking the worst.

"Aren't you? C'mon Gibbs, you never wanted anyone to know that we were lovers and after you came back from Mexico, you made it pretty clear that you wanted nothing to do with me unless it was work-related. Then you just show up out of the blue like nothing happened. What the hell am I supposed to think?!"

Gibbs slowly got to his feet. While he could understand Tony's reasoning, it still hurt to think that Tony thought he was capable of being that callous.

He approached Tony the way he would a frightened animal. He could see from Tony's face that the younger man was dangerously close to breaking apart at the seams. "Tony-"

"No," Tony yelled, backing away. "Don't touch me! You don't have the right to touch me! You quit remember? You didn't want to remember what happened between us! And you didn't care when you came back. You didn't love me anymore, you wanted to be with that Colonel Mann."

Kate stared at the scene wide-eyed, not sure what to do; she'd never seen Tony like this. For the first time, she really thought Tony was having a nervous breakdown and it was a scary thought.

Gibbs didn't have a better idea of what to do than Kate did, but that wouldn't stop him from acting, if only to keep Tony from taking another shot at him. Moving with the quickness that only a Marine could have, he surged forward and grabbed Tony 

by the wrists. Unfortunately, that just served to agitate Tony even more and he began fight.

"Let me go!" Tony squirmed and struggled to get away but Gibbs had a grip of iron and he wasn't letting go anytime soon. "Dammit, Gibbs, let me go!"

"No," Gibbs growled, forcing Tony back, "not until you calm down." When Tony kept struggling, Gibbs used his Marine training to bring Tony to his knees, "Come on, Tony. I know you're upset but-"

"Upset?! Upset isn't fucking word for it, you asshole!" Tony yelled, renewing his struggle to get away, "Everyone I love leaves me! My mom, Kate, Paula, you, Jeanne; everyone!" Whatever else he was going to say was choked off as he began to sob like his heart was broken beyond repair.

Immediately, Gibbs carefully wrapped his arms around Tony's shaking body, stroking a hand over 

Tony's dark hair, trying to soothe his former lover.

Kate sat down on the sofa, almost in tears herself. God, how could she have missed how hard the past few years had been on Tony mentally and emotionally? She was supposed to be his guardian angel, the one person who was supposed to know this stuff.

After a few moments, Tony had calmed down somewhat but Gibbs didn't let go, if anything, he just held him tighter. After a few more minutes, Gibbs gently pulled Tony to his feet, "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Surprisingly, Tony didn't resist and let Gibbs lead him down the hallway to the bedroom and closed the door, leaving Kate in the living room.

Kate sighed as she sat on the sofa; God, she'd really screwed up. She'd underestimated how emotionally frail Tony was after everything he'd 

been through and then she'd sent Gibbs, one of the big reasons for Tony's frail state, to talk to him. God, what a mess.

"Now, Caitlyn, don't be too hard on yourself. Of all the scenarios of how this could've gone, that was the best."

Kate turned to look at Uriel sitting on the sofa next to her. "THAT was the best?! I hate to think what the worst could be."

Uriel shrugged, "Tony could've seriously harmed Gibbs or himself. Or he could've not let Gibbs into the apartment. But he did and now their relationship is on the road to recovery." At Kate's confused look, he smiled, "You'll notice that Gibbs hasn't left yet."

Kate looked around and saw that the door to Tony's bedroom was still closed and there was no sign of Gibbs having left. Now very curious, Kate crept down the hall to the door and peeked inside.

Gibbs and Tony were laying on the bed, Tony curled into Gibbs' body, sound asleep. Gibbs was stroking a hand down Tony's back, his face showing the guilt he felt at hurting Tony as badly as he had and then leaving the wounds to fester for so long.

"Of course, their relationship will never be the same and it'll take work, but they are on their way," Uriel commented, as Kate took in the scene. "The fact that Tony allowed Gibbs to take him to bed and let him stay says that he has forgiven him, just like you said he would."

Kate nodded with a sigh and turned to leave. Even though the end of the mission hadn't gone as smoothly as she would've liked, but she had accomplished her goal; get Gibbs and Tony back together. The rest was up to them.

The End.


End file.
